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EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  U.  S. 

154  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NORTH 
NASHVILLE,  TENN. 


flrefare 


All  the  facts  in  this  pamphlet  have  been  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  field  within  the  last  two  and  a 
half  months,  except  the  account  of  the  work  at 
Luebo,  Africa. 

These  facts  are  but  specimens.  They  do  not 
cover  the  immense  field.  But  they  convey  a 
true  idea  of  the  general  character  and  progress 
of  our  work  abroad. 

For  the  information  herein  given  we  are  in¬ 
debted  to  the  following  missionaries: 

Sutsien  Station,  China,  Rev.  W.  F.  Junkin. 

Hsuchoufu  Station,  China,  Mrs.  Geo.P.  Stevens.. 

Kiangyin  Station,  China,  Mr.  Andrew  Allison. 

Tsing  Kiang  Pu  Station,  China,  Miss  Sallie 
M.  Lacy. 

Hwaianfu  Station,  China,  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Woods. 

Taichow  Station,  China,  Rev.  C.  N.  CaldwelL 

Nagoya  Station,  Japan,  Rev.  R.  E.  McAlpine. 

Takamatsu  Station,  Japan,  Mrs.  S.  M.  Erick¬ 
son. 

Toyohashi  Station,  Japan,  Rev.  C.  K.  Cum- 
ming 

Okazaki  Station,  Japan,  Miss  Florence  Patton. 

Itapetininga  Station,  Brazil,  Rev.  R.  D.  Daffin.. 

Pernambuco  Station,  Brazil,  Miss  Eliza  M.Reed. 

Descalvado  Station,  Brazil,  Rev.  Alva  Hardie. 

Tula  Station,  Mexico,  Rev.  J.  O.  Shelby. 

H.  Matamoros  Station,  Mexico,  Miss  Alice  L 
McClelland. 

C.  Victoria  Stat'on,  Mexico,  Miss  E.  V.  Lee. 

Placetas  Station,  Cuba,  Rev.  H.  F.  Beaty. 

Calbarien  Station,  Cuba,  Rev.  R.  L.  Wharton. 

Chunju  Station,  Korea,  Rev.  S.  Dwight  Winn. 

Kunsan  Station,  Korea,  Rev.  W.  F.  Bull. 

(Further  Korean  Facts,  Mr.  C.  A.  Rowland.) 

Luebo  Station,  Africa,  Bishop  Lambuth. 

African  Mission  Summary,  Dr.  W.  M.  Morrison. 

Egbert  W.  Smith. 

Sept.  15,  1914,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


iFrmn  (j)ur 

9 

iFomgn  ifftrliiB 


g>utsunt  Station,  (China. 

At  this  station  nine  years  ago  there  were  eighty 
baptized  communicants  and  only  about  three 
out-stations,  an  out-station  being  a  point  away 
from  the  central  Station,  where  there  are  regular 
Sabbath  gatherings  for  worship.  Now,  there  are 
over  four  hundred  baptized  communicants,  seven¬ 
teen  different  out-stations,  a  Boys’  Boarding  High 
School  with  seventy  odd  boarders,  a  Girls’ 
Boarding  and  Day  School  with  about  fifty  pupils, 
and  twenty-six  day  schools  in  different  parts  of 
the  field  with  between  three  and  four  hundred 
pupils. 

Nine  years  ago  we  had  only  two  or  three  native 
preachers,  poorly  prepared,  and,  with  one  ex¬ 
ception,  inefficient.  Now  we  have  fourteen  native 
evangelistic  helpers,  several  of  them  Theological 
Seminary  graduates,  with  excellent  training  and 
very  efficient.  Two  doctors  have  been  given  an 
eight-year  course  of  hospital  training.  We  have 
a  fairly  well  equipped  hospital  containing  about 
fifty  beds.  In  hospital  and  clinic  about  twelve 
thousand  patients  are  treated  yearly.  The  whole 
attitude  of  the  people  toward  us  and  toward  our 
work  has  changed.  The  outlook  is  most  bright. 

A  few  years  ago  the  worst  gambler  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  a  Mr.  Meng,  was  converted.  This 
man  today  is  the  recognized  leader  in  good  works 
in  the  whole  community  and  is  known  for  miles 
around  the  country  as  an  earnest  Christian.  A 


4 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


relative  by  marriage  of  the  Mengs  remarked  to 
one  of  our  missionaries  recently: 

“Ah,  you  don’t  know  how  this  home  of  the 
Mengs’  used  to  be.  I  used  to  come  over  here  and 
it  was  quarrel,  quarrel,  quarrel,  all  day  long,  and 
he  used  to  beat  her,  too,  But  he  never  beats  her 
now,  and  it  is  peaceful,  peaceful,  all  the  time.” 

One  day  last  summer,  Mr.  Meng  said  to  the 
missionary,  “Well,  I  have  decided  to  do  it.” 
“Decided  to  do  what?”  “I  have  decided  to  give 
to  the  Lord’s  work  a  tithe  of  all  my  income.” 

He  explains  to  the  people  how  they  can  keep 
the  Sabbath.  He  says  he  has  found  that  to  keep 
Sunday  as  a  rest  and  worship  day,  he  and  his 
family  must  begin  Monday  morning  to  plan  for 
Sunday  and  plan  for  it  by  keeping  the  other  part 
of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  “Six  days  shalt 
thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work.” 

ffisurlumfu  Station,  (Uljiita. 

This  year  a  new  church,  seating  about  eight 
hundred  people,  has  taken  the  place  of  the  old 
over-crowded  house  of  worship,  and  nearly  every 
Sunday  it  is  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity. 
The  Sunday  school  has  an  average  of  four  hundred 
attendance  and  daily  Bible  Classes  are  held  for 
the  men  and  women  who  desire  to  study.  This 
field  numbers  two  million  people  and  with  the 
exception  of  one  small  town,  no  other  Church 
except  the  Southern  Presbyterian  is  giving  them 
the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Eighteen  years  ago  the  work  was  begun  here 
in  the  face  of  bitter  opposition  and  persecution. 
Now  there  are  five  hundred  believers  in  this 
neighborhood.  There  are  twenty-five  places 
where  there  is  preaching  every  Sunday.  There 

5 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


are  hundreds  of  inquirers,  many  of  whom  are 
showing  their  earnestness  by  studying  the  Bible. 
We  have  a  school  for  boys  and  a  school  for  girls, 
both  of  which  are  full  to  the  limit  of  their  capacity. 
Also,  we  have  a  hospital  for  men  and  another  for 
women. 

These  schools  and  hospitals  are  educational 
and  evangelistic  agencies.  Evangelistic  bands 
from  the  Boys’  School  and  Orphanage  go  out 
every  Sabbath  to  conduct  services  in  some  of  the 
nearby  villages.  The  Christian  girls  take  an 
active  part  in  the  Sabbath  school  work.  Of  the 
nine  boys  who  have  gone  out  from  the  Hfuchoufu 
Boys’  High  School,  one  is  now  preaching  the 
Gospel,  one  is  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  four 
are  efficient  teachers  in  our  School,  two  are  as¬ 
sisting  in  our  hospital  work,  and  one  is  an  active 
layman.  There  are  now  seventeen  volunteers 
for  the  Ministry  in  our  schools  who  engage  in 
voluntary  evangelistic  work. 

Many  are  brought  to  Christ  through  the  hos¬ 
pital  work.  For  example,  Mr.  Yang  was  very  ill 
with  asthma  and  came  to  the  hospital  for  treat¬ 
ment.  He  went  home  improved  in  health,  but 
it  was  not  the  doctor’s  skill  that  impressed  him 
most.  He  heard  something  from  the  doctor  of 
the  Saviour  and  for  several  years  now  he  has 
been  coming  back  to  hear  more.  In  his  city, 
where  he  was  the  first  Christian,  there  are  several 
others  now.  A  weekly  service  is  held  there  every 
Sabbath  and  there  is  a  flourishing  school  for  boys. 

Mr.  Hu  first  heard  the  Gospel  from  the  lips  of 
one  of  our  native  Evangelists.  He  went  back 
to  his  home  village  to  bear  witness  for  Christ. 
Here  ‘he  had  to  face  bitter  opposition  from  his 
family  and  the  ridicule  of  his  friends.  They  said 

6 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


he  was  beside  himself.  For  a  long  time  he  was 
shunned  as  an  outcast.  But  he  lived  before  them 
in  such  a  way  that  they  were  brought  to  confess 
that  he  had  some  new  power  in  his  life.  One 
by  one  they  turned  to  his  Saviour.  Now  his 
village  has  an  organized  Church  with  the  largest 
membership  in  the  Hfuchoufu  country  field,  and 
there  are  many  earnest  inquirers. 

Throughout  our  whole  field  the  greatest  friend¬ 
liness  is  taking  the  place  of  the  former  hatred  and 
suspicion.  These  people  receive  us  into  their 
homes  as  never  before.  Many  pupils  are  turned 
away  from  the  schools  on  account  of  lack  of  room. 
The  faith  of  the  people  in  idols  has  been  shaken 
and  now  is  the  time  to  tell  them  of  the  God  not 
made  with  hands. 

But  we  have  only  eleven  workers  in  this  field. 
Six  of  these  work  largely  in  the  hospitals  and  the 
schools,  an  essential  part  of  our  work.  Three 
others  are  engaged  in  the  great  City  work,  leav¬ 
ing  two  ordained  men  for  the  enormous  country 
field,  that  is,  more  than  nine  hundred  thousand 
people  for  each  of  these  two  men.  Calls  are 
continually  coming  to  us  for  preachers  and  Bible 
women  to  go  to  villages  to  teach  the  people  the 
“ Jesus  Doctrine,”  and  many,  many  times  the 
answer  has  to  be  sent  back  “ There  is  no  one  to 
go  to  you.” 

One  village,  where  we  formerly  had  one  Chris¬ 
tian  woman,  is  full  of  inquirers  now  who  have 
shown  their  earnestness  in  many  ways.  An  old 
temple  from  which  the  idol  has  been  removed  has 
been  converted  into  a  school  and  the  teacher 
invited  the  Evangelist  to  use  it  for  his  services, 
as  the  tiny  church  will  not  begin  to  hold  the 
crowds  who  come.  Many  of  the  secular  village 


i 


7 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FORIEGN  FIELDS. 


schools  are  exceedingly  friendly  and  ask  that  our 
church  give  one  man  to  go  from  school  to  school 
teaching  the  Bible.  Shall  we  continue  to  turn 
a  deaf  ear  to  these  calls  for  help  for  lack  of  workers? 

The  Standard  Oil  Company  has  realized  its 
opportunities  and  its  agents  are  doing  a  thriving 
business  everywhere.  Dr.  Lyon’s  Tooth  Powder 
is  advertised  extensively,  and  tobacco  adver¬ 
tisements  mar  many  ancient  landmarks.  Cigar¬ 
ettes  are  sold  everywhere,  especially  among  the 
women  of  the  higher  class.  Often  we  are  offered 
“  foreign  tobacco”  when  we  go  into  their  homes. 
Cannot  the  Church  of  God  learn  a  lesson  from 
these  business  men,  who  are  seeing  their  oppor¬ 
tunities  and  taking  advantage  of  them? 

Ktangytn  Station,  (China. 

What  sort  of  product  are  the  schools  turning 
out,  anyway?  Well,  go  with  me  to  a  country 
wedding— push  your  way  into  the  crowd,  and 
hear  the  new  bridegroom,  as  he  turns  to  you, 
beaming  a  welcome  from  the  top  of  the  table,  and 
says,  “We  have  had  a  great  day — hundreds  of 
people  to  preach  to.”  That’s  what  his  wedding 
day  meant  to  him,  primarily  an  opportunity  to 
preach. 

Omitting  a  meal  is  very  difficult  for  a  China¬ 
man,  but  an  early  start  to  the  country  one  morn¬ 
ing  deprived  one  old  lady  of  her  breakfast.  She 
made  no  comment.  Miss  Jourolman  finding  it 
out  spoke  to  her  out  of  the  overflowing  sympathy 
of  her  heart,  but  she  said,  “What  of  that!  My 
Lord  ate  more  bitterness  than  that  for  me.” 

The  hospital  is  doing  a  great  work.  At  the 
end  of  last  winter  a  scrap  of  a  girl,  not  so  young 
in  years,  but  shrunken  and  blighted,  was  brought 

8 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


to  the  hospital  gate  and  left  there.  The  fees  are 
small  certainly  and  theoretically  should  be  paid 
but  what  are  fees  when  hearts  that  know  the 
Saviour  see  one  crook-backed,  half-starved, 
wretched,  feet  frozen  and  rotting  off,  lying  at  the 
door!  We  tried  to  save  the  poor  feet  but  almost 
every  day  only  dark  pain  marked  the  sallow  little 
face  and  never  a  smile  shone.  One  day  they 
were  given  up  as  hopeless  and  removed,  and  im¬ 
mediately  a  mint  of  smiles  from  that  day  to  this 
has  been  this  little  waif.  Never  thinking  of  her 
utter  dependence,  believing  like  a  bird  that  there 
will  be  food  and  care,  and  happy, — in  what? 
Oh,  you  children  whose  days  are  full  of  games  and 
pleasures  and  delights— only  in  that  she  is  not 
in  agony. 

The  woman’s  ward  in  the  hospital  is  going 
steadily  up  and  great  results  are  expected  in  this 
coming  year.  But  the  schools  are  badly  over¬ 
crowded.  For  four  years  we  have  been  unable 
to  increase  the  number  of  boarders  for  lack  of 
room. 

“How  can  we  know,”  said  an  old  man  sadly  to 
Miss  Jourolman.  “We  are  far  away  from  any 
church  here  in  this  out-of-the-way  village.  No 
one  comes  here  to  teach  us.  How  can  we  know?” 

(Using- JCtattg-iPit  Station,  GUjttta. 

The  old  spirit  of  hostility  against  the  foreigner 
is  now  broken  down,  and  the  people  everywhere 
listen  attentively  to  the  message — a  vast  change 
from  former  conditions.  The  doors  stand  open 
on  every  hand  now,  but  alas,  we  have  not  the 
workers  to  enter  them.  Our  Boys’  school  num¬ 
bered  forty  pupils  last  year  and  there  were  many 
applications  that  had  to  be  refused  for  lack  of  room. 

9 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


After  working  for  twenty  years  in  dark  and 
contracted  Chinese  buildings,  Dr.  Woods  is  now 
rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  having  a  commodious 
up-to-date  three-story  building,  accommodating 
eighty  beds.  This  building  will  be  ready  for 
occupation  by  the  first  of  September  as  will  both 
the  new  dwelling  houses  for  both  the  foreign  and 
native  doctors,  and  separate  wards  for  both  men 
and  women.  The  number  treated  in  the  dispen¬ 
sary  for  the  year  was  twenty-nine  thousand,  the 
average  daily  attendance  at  the  Clinics  being 
two  hundred.  Our  present  Chapel  is  entirely 
inadequate  to  seat  the  entire  congregation. 

ihucrimifu  Station,  (Ehitta. 

There  being  as  yet  no  hospital,  the  numbers  in 
one  day  at  the  Clinic  have  gone  as  high  as  three 
hundred  and  twenty  patients,  or  for  the  year 
easily  averaging  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  thousand 
to  twenty  thousand. 

No  field  represents  such  an  opportunity  to  reach 
the  best  youth  of  the  city,  if  we  had  a  school. 
We  have  every  year  constant  inquiries  made, 
“When  are  you  going  to  open  a  High  School?” 
“Will  you  not  open  an  Academy  for  young  wo¬ 
men?  We  wish  to  send  our  daughters.  We  trust 
Christian  teachers,  but  do  not  trust  the  morals 
of  our  own  teachers.”  When  will  the  Church  at 
home  permit  us  to  give  the  glad  answer,  “We 
shall  open  these  schools.” 

The  minds  of  the  Confucianists  are  open  to  the 
Gospel  as  never  before.  I  have  been  amazed  to 
see  how  fully  the  proud  scholar  of  fifty  years  of 
age  would  acknowledge  the  error  of  his  life-long 
belief,  and  the  truth  that  Christ  is  the  Divine 
Saviour  and  must  be  the  Saviour  of  China. 

Remember  that  these  1,300,000  souls  in  the 

10 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


Hwaian  field  are  wholly  dependent  on  us  to 
giVe  them  the  Gospel.  Other  fields  have  other 
Churches  oftentimes,  as  well  as  our  own,  to  work 
among  them.  In  the  Hwaian  field  our  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  is  the  only  one  working. 

uJatriimu,  (tthina. 

To  be  conservative  there  are  at  least  a  million 
souls  here  who  have  no  other  opportunity  to  hear 
the  Gospel  than  what  our  efforts  may  give  them. 
When  we  opened  here  in  1908  there  was  very 
decided  opposition  to  the  preaching  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  we  could  get  a  few  to  come  into 
our  chapel  to  hear  us  preach.  “Foreign  Devil” 
was  the  most  frequent  sound  heard,  and  crowds  of 
children  urged  on  by  the  older  people  followed  us 
calling  us  by  that  name. 

An  amazing  change  has  taken  place.  We 
now  have  a  convenient  house,  and  a  chapel  where 
I  am  preaching  the  Gospel  to  crowded  houses 
most  of  the  time,  often  not  having  standing  room. 
There  is  urgent  need  of  an  enlarged  building  now 
to  accommodate  the  crowds  that  come  night  after 
night.  We  were  once  taunted  by  the  better 
element  of  the  people,  with  “You  don’t  seem  to 
have  any  of  the  best  people  in  your  church.” 
Now,  the  largest  part  of  our  congregations  are  of 
that  class  and  almost  all  of  the  additions  to  our 
church  have  been  of  that  class.  There  are  two 
women  from  what  is  probably  the  leading  family 
of  the  city  who  are  asking  now  to  be  admitted  to 
the  church.  Some  of  the  conversions  here  read 
like  fresh  chapters  from  the  Book  of  Acts. 

In  1912  there  came  a  man,  who  on  account 
of  his  starving  condition,  was  given  work  in  clean¬ 
ing  up  the  debris  left  after  the  building  of  our 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  ^FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


house.  He  turned  out  to  be  about  the  filthiest 
laziest  creature  that  we  had  ever  known.  But 
his  miserable,  starving  condition,  appealed  to  us. 
He  was  here  a  few  weeks  before  we  went  for  the 
fourth  time  to  help  in  the  famine  fields.  We  gave 
him  some  work  that  he  might  have  something  to 
eat,  but  with  the  determination  to  have  him  dis¬ 
missed  before  our  return  to  the  Station,  as  it  was 
thought  he  could  not  be  tolerated  after  the  return 
of  hot  weather.  This  outward  filth  was  only  a 
faint  type  of  the  filthiness  within. 

The  writer  returned  after  seven  months  in  the 
famine  fields  and  was  met  by  the  man  whom  he 
did  not  recognize,  as  he  was  so  utterly  changed. 
His  clothes  were  new  and  clean.  His  face  was 
clothed  with  a  bright  smile,  and  it  was  found 
that  the  old  lazy  ways  had  given  place  to  industry 
and  faithfulness.  When  asked  what  had  made 
such  a  change  in  him,  he  replied  that  he  had 
“come  out  of  his  skin  and  changed  his  bones,” 
and  with  a  joy  the  writer  will  never  forget,  said, 
“He  is  my  Jesus  now.”  He  is  now  our  Chapel 
keeper,  and  he  spends  all  his  spare  time  reading 
his  Bible  and  trying  to  witness  for  his  Master. 
He  is  literally  a  man  of  one  book. 

Nagoya  Station,  .llapan. 

-  The  harvest  in  Japan  is  spoiling  for  lack  of 
gatherers.  It  is  dead  ripe — rotten  ripe.  The 
moral  corruption  of  the  people  is  of  world-wide 
fame.  The  financial  corruption  also  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  section  has  long  been  known.  But  till  re¬ 
cently  it  was  supposed  that  the  chivalric  fighting 
men  of  the  nation  maintained  their  ancient 
knightly  contempt  for  coin  and  were  proof  against 


12 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


bribery.  But  the  recent  scandals  in  navy  and 
army  have  sadly  shaken  that  confident  spirit 
and  have  shocked  the  whole  nation. 

But  that  was  not  the  end.  In  the  very  midst 
of  that  investigation,  money  corruption  was 
discovered  in  the  official  circle  right  in  the  Im¬ 
perial  Household  and  the  Emperor  had  to  stop 
long  enough  to  dismiss  an  officer  of  the  Palace 
before  dawn,  as  he  was  setting  out  to  visit  the 
dying  Empress  Dowager  this  spring. 

To  top  all,  the  same  slimy  rottenness  has  been 
laid  bare  among  the  higher  circle  of  those  who 
pose  as  the  religious  leaders  of  the  nation,  the 
chief  pontiff  and  satellites  in  each  of  the  two 
strongest  sects  of  Buddhism  in  Japan;  also  among 
the  priests  in  the  chief  Shinto  temple  in  Nagoya, 
the  Asuta  Shrine,  with  a  history  running  back 
two  thousand  years. 

In  despair  people  now  look  to  Christianity  as 
never  before.  Police  officers  frankly  confess  that 
our  work  would  vastly  help  theirs,  for  while  theirs 
is  only  to  catch  and  punish  criminals,  ours  is  to 
fundamentally  remove  the  cause  of  crime,  and 
they  cordially  welcome  our  efforts. 

The  Educational  Department,  so  long  almost 
openly  hostile,  seems  decidedly  to  have  modified, 
or  even  reversed,  its  attitude  regarding  us.  It 
has  taken  over  to  its  care  the  Bureau  of  Religion, 
ostensibly  to  relieve  the  Home  Department,  but 
in  reality,  it  looks,  to  quietly  encourage  real 
religious  effort. 

Instead  of  the  strong  opposition  of  school 
teachers  in  the  past,  so  that  our  Sunday  schools 
had  a  steady  struggle  for  existence,  we  now  seem 
able  to  get  all  the  children  our  places  will  hold. 
In  our  Second  Church,  Nagoya,  which  usually 


i3 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


has  had  some  fifty  children,  a  very  slight  effort 
caused  the  astonishing  result  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils.  Last  month,  a  worker  moved  to 
another  field  which  had  long  been  very  difficult, 
and  with  a  simple  invitation  obtained  an  atten¬ 
dance  of  some  eighty  children. 

Lately  a  conversation  with  a  chance  acquaint¬ 
ance  on  the  trolley  car  gained  an  invitation  to 
hold  a  meeting  in  his  home.  It  proved  to  be  a 
village  entirely  in  charge  of  one  of  the  most  popu¬ 
lar  sects  of  Buddhism.  The  people  frankly  told 
us  that  they  had  no  expectation  of  accepting  our 
doctrine.  Yet  they  like  to  hear  us  and  willingly 
provide  a  place  for  our  meetings  whenever  we 
come,  and  welcome  us  in  goodly  numbers. 
Already  we  have  held  four  meetings  there  and 
hope  for  a  permanent  work  among  the  people. 

By  this  time  there  are  perhaps  a  hundred  of  the 
graduates  of  our  Girls’  School  in  Nagoya  scattered 
throughout  the  land,  living  definite  Christian 
lives.  Those  who  are  married  are  with  their 
husbands,  establishing  Christian  homes,  that 
beautiful  flower  which  blooms  only  from  the  root 
given  of  God  and  so  absolutely  unknown  in  this 
land  hitherto. 

Beyond  the  circle  of  their  homes,  these  wives 
of  pastors,  church  officers,  and  private  members, 
kelp  to  do  a  work  in  the  church  which  is  of  untold 
value.  At  this  moment  one  of  them  in  Nagoya  is 
helping  her  husband,  the  head  teacher  of  our 
school,  do  a  work  in  school,  Sunday  school,  and 
Church,  which  is  effecting  more  than  any  other 
one  thing  to  advance  the  Kingdom  there.  In 
addition  to  all  this  the  wife  finds  time  to  teach 
daily  a  large  group  of  little  children  in  a  kinder¬ 
garten  in  a  way  whose  efficiency  looks  almost 


14 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


flawless  to  an  outsider.  It  is  a  joy  to  watch  her  in 
her  studious,  dutiful  life  work. 

The  graduates  yet  unmarried,  as  kindergartners, 
school  teachers,  clerks  in  offices,  daughters  at 
home,  are  leading  lives  in  the  community  and  the 
church,  which  are  positive,  strong,  and  trust¬ 
worthy,  a  stimulant  to  all  around,  whose  value  is 
beyond  estimate. 

As  to  results  from  the  churches,  take  for  ex¬ 
ample  the  little  Second  Church  in  Nagoya.  From 
these  Christians  have  gone  forth  some  six  or  eight 
heralds  of  the  Cross,  two  of  them  at  present  being 
pastors  of  strong  and  important  churches.  These 
young  preachers,  not  to  mention  the  private 
members  so  faithful,  are  bearing  fruit  every  month 
and  their  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nation. 
Eternity  alone  can  show  their  value.  The  twenty 
odd  stations  in  the  district  are  all  supplied  with 
preachers  by  our  Mission,  though  their  rents, 
etc.,  are  largely  met  by  the  Christians  in  each 
place. 

(fDkasaki  Station,  dlapau. 

A  beautiful  welcome  meeting  and  the  kindness 
of  the  people  soon  made  us  feel  at  home  when  we 
moved  to  Okazaki  two  years  ago.  We  found  the 
church  attendance  ranged  from  six  to  twelve. 
It  now  ranges  from  thirty  to  fifty,  praise  God! 
We  also  have  a  lovely  Sunday  school  divided  into 
six  classes,  from  Bible  Class  to  the  Infant  Class. 

We  felt  we  must  open  at  least  four  more  weekly 
children’s  meetings  in  different  parts  of  the  city, 
— also  a  Bible  Class  for  young  women,  one  for 
High  School  girls,  another  for  teachers,  and  one 
for  lady  teachers,  a  woman’s  meeting,  of  course. 

At  the  request  of  the  people  in  our  neighbor- 

15 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


hood,  I  have  opened  a  Kindergarten,  where  I 
teach  every  morning  and  have  my  afternoons  and 
evenings  free  for  evangelistic  work.  The  Kin¬ 
dergarten  work  is  most  charming  and  has  been 
marvelously  used  of  God  to  break  through  the 
strongholds  of  Buddhism  into  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  No  one  dared  hope  for  more  than  five 
or  six  children  for  a  year  or  so,  but  I  asked  God 
to  give  me  forty  and  He  did.  It  is  wonderful 
what  they  have  learned  about  God  in  these  three 
months. 

One  mother  was  so  happy  because  her  little 
boy  who  had  always  been  so  afraid  of  the  dark, 
came  back  from  an  errand  one  night  and  said  he 
was  not  a  bit  afraid,  because  Jesus  was  with  him. 
Other  parents  come  and  tell  how  wonderfully 
their  children  have  improved  in  conduct.  On 
Fridays  we  all  take  lunch  and  sit  together  on  the 
floor  in  a  big  circle.  Lunch  day  gives  us  the 
opportunity  to  teach  the  children  to  say  grace 
before  their  meals.  We  have  crowds  of  visitors, 
and  are  getting  to  know  the  parents  so  well  and 
can  visit  in  all  their  homes. 

We  invited  two  Evangelists  to  come  and  hold 
a  five  days  meeting  for  us  in  February.  It  was 
a  time  of  refreshing.  One  back-sliding  school 
teacher  who  would  not  allow  his  wife  to  be  bap¬ 
tized-,  got  such  a  blessing  that  he  could  hardly 
wait  for  Sunday  to  come  to  get  his  whole  family 
baptized;  and  he  himself  has  been  preaching  the 
best  sermons  ever  since.  Our  pastor  was  taken 
ill  at  that  time,  so  he  has  just  filled  the  pulpit. 
One  dear  old  lady  said  that  going  to  those  morning 
meetings  was  “just  like  going  to  heaven.”  She 
has  been  doing  definite  work  for  God  by  inter¬ 
cessory  prayer  ever  since. 

16 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


We  have  a  class  of  eight  or  ten  blind  boys,  in 
whom  we  are  deeply  interested.  One  is  a  Chris¬ 
tian,  I  am  sure,  and  I  hope  he  can  soon  be  bap¬ 
tized. 

We  have  a  nice  band  of  young  men  in  the  city 
bank  where  we  deal.  One  of  them  was  baptized 
a  few  weeks  ago. 

We  need  three  more  good  Evangelists  and 
another  teacher,  and  all  your  earnest  prayers  for 
God’s  blessing  upon  this  priest-ridden  district, 
with  its  more  than  fifty  heathen  temples  in  the 
city,  and  only  one  little  church  spire  pointing  up 
to  the  true  and  living  God  who  gave  His  only  Son 
to  die  for  Okazaki. 

ulakatnatHU  Station,  Japan. 

We  are  trying  in  this  one  province  of  Sanuki 
to  reach  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people. 
It  is  not  only  one  of  the  most  densely  populated 
but  one  of  the  most  accessible  of  all  our  Mission 
fields.  Trains  run  each  way  every  hour  to  the 
westward,  trolley  lines  and  steamships  run  east¬ 
ward.  In  addition  to  its  own  population  of  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people,  almost  a 
million  more  come  to  Sanuki  Province  every  year 
as  pilgrims,  and  among  all  these  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  people  there  are  but  two  ordained 
missionaries.  No  other  Mission  is  planning  to 
send  men  here.  This  work  is  ours. 

Entering  our  village  church  at  Takamatsu  you 
will  find  it  well  filled  with  worshippers.  The 
pulpit  is  occupied  by  the  earnest  young  pastor 
from  our  Seminary  in  Kobe  and  by  old  Miki 
San,  once  a  Shinto  priest,  but  now  for  many  years 
a  Presbyterian  elder.  Among  the  worshipers  is 
another  old  man,  also  an  elder,  who  first  heard 


17 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


the  Gospel  when  a  boy,  and  who  used  to  study  a 
Chinese  Bible  behind  locked  doors,  because  he 
feared  the  edict  proclaiming  death  to  all  Chris¬ 
tian  converts. 

Across  the  church  is  Miyai  San  who  is  giving 
his  life  to  the  poor  and  needy  of  this  city.  Drunk¬ 
ards,  insane  people,  released  prisoners,  broken 
down  aristocrats,  and  blind  paupers,  have  been 
members  of  his  family  and  have  added  to  his  re¬ 
sponsibility,  but  he  has  succored  them  and  looked 
to  God  only  for  his  reward.  Beside  him  is  a  young 
oculist,  for  many  years  in  a  Christian  hospital 
in  Tokyo,  now  one  of  the  mainstays  of  the  con¬ 
gregation. 

Among  the  women  we  notice  a  daughter  of 
the  old  elder  before  mentioned.  Though  the 
mother  of  eight  children,  and  an  unusually  frail, 
delicate  woman,  she  never  misses  the  service  or 
the  women’s  meetings.  “If  I  loved  God  less  I 
might  sometimes  stay  away,”  she  says,  “But  if 
I  miss  everything  else,  I  cannot  miss  the  meetings.” 

The  service  of  the  Church  is  much  like  our 
services  at  home,  but  from  first  to  last  it  is  con¬ 
ducted  by  the  Japanese  themselves.  We  have 
established  meeting  places  at  eight  other  towns. 

Remember  that  the  $200  you  might  send  for 
a  Japanese  Evangelist  would  mean  the  support  of 
the  Christian  work  in  a  whole  town.  The  Japan¬ 
ese  Bible  Woman  for  whom  you  might  send  $12 
a  month,  would  probably  have  a  total  attendance 
of  6000  children  a  year  at  her  children’s  meetings. 
The  chapels  which  rent  for  five  dollars  a  month 
shelter  hundreds  of  inquirers  every  month.  Five 
hundred  dollars  would  provide  one  cheap  tract 
for  every  person  in  the  province. 


18 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


utogoljaaht,  Kagan 

We  have  a  good  church  building  here,  erected 
about  two  years  ago.  From  Toyohashi  as  a 
center,  we  have  country  work  in  several  places, 
one  about  forty-five  miles  distant  in  the  mount¬ 
ains,  and  others  nearer. 

During  this  last  year  from  July  1913;  to  July, 
1914,  we  have  baptized  thirty-four  persons,  chil¬ 
dren  and  adults.  I  baptized  two  persons  on  the 
last  Sunday  in  June,  one  a  young  woman,  and  one 
a  young  man  who  has  been  attending  the  Uni¬ 
versity  at  Tokio  and  who,  while  there,  has  joined 
the  Bible  Class  of  a  Missionary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  young  man  came  to  see  me  the 
day  after  his  return  from  Tokio  and  told  me  about 
himself.  Since  baptizing  him,  I  have  received 
from  him  the  following  letter.  He  wrote  it  in 
English  himself  and  though  the  style  is  quaint 
the  thought  is  good: 

“I  will  do  my  best  to  feed  my  soul  every  day  on 
God’s  words.  I  am  reading  the  Bible  as  the  food 
of  my  soul  and  trying  to  satisfy  the  thirst  of  my 
thirsty  soul  every  day  with  prayer.” 

Jlmtamlmro,  Iraztl. 

The  American  Evangelical  College  was  opened 
at  Recife,  in  the  state  of  Pernambuco,  on  July, 
1904,  with  one  pupil.  The  number  has  increased 
to  an  average  of  80  pupils  a  year.  About  four 
hundred  girls  have  been  received  since  the  school 
was  organized.  The  children  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  country  have  been  enrolled  in  our  school 
since  the  day  it  was  first  opened.  Our  patrons 
are  lawyers,  doctors,  merchants,  teachers,  con¬ 
gressmen,  senators,  and  officers  of  the  army  and 


19 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


navy.  Lack  of  accommodation  compels  us  to 
refuse  many  girls. 

This  evangelical  School  is  the  only  Christian 
school  for  girls  in  Northern  Brazil.  The  cate¬ 
chism,  hymns,  and  Bible  are  taught  daily  to  every 
pupil.  We  should  support  this  school  in  order  to 
give  the  Bible  to  Brazilian  girls.  There  is  no 
open  Bible  in  this  land. 

“In  the  twenty-three  years  spent  in  Brazil,” 
says  Miss  Eliza  M.  Reed,  “I  have  never  met  a 
man  or  woman  who  had  ever  seen  a  Bible  except 
it  had  come  from  the  direct  influence  of  mission¬ 
ary  work  or  that  of  the  English  and  American 
Bible  Societies.”  Many  of  the  pupils  bring  their 
Bibles  along  with  their  other  text  books.  They 
carry  their  Bibles  back  and  forth  from  the  school 
to  their  homes.  Some  pupils  borrow  Bibles  to 
show  their  parents  at  home.  They  often  tell  how 
their  parents  will  read  the  Bible  with  them. 

.  One  morning  one  little  girl  came  without  her 
Bible  and  asked  the  loan  of  one  for  the  day  be¬ 
cause  her  mother  had  begun  reading  the  Gospel 
of  Luke  the  night  before.  She  had  read  until 
late  in  the  night  and  had  begun  again  early  in  the 
morning  but  she  could  not  finish  in  time  for  the 
child  to  have  the  book  for  school. 

Another  little  girl  said  her  father  helped  her 
with  all  her  lessons,  but  he  liked  the  Bible  lesson 
best  of  all.  Another  child,  while  memorizing 
several  portions  of  the  Gospel  of  John,  said, 
“Won’t  my  father  be  surprised  wThen  I  tell  him 
there  is  a  God — that  we  are  all  sinners  and  that 
Jesus  came  to  save  us  all?” 

Another  little  girl  lay  dying.  She  called  her 
mother  who  thinks  that  she  is  an  infidel,  and  said, 
“Sit  by  me,  mother,  hold  my  hand.  I  am  going 


20 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS 


away  with  Jesus  to  my  home  in  Heaven.”  That 
child’s  Bible  has  been  the  only  source  of  consola¬ 
tion  to  that  mother  during  months  of  loneliness 
of  heart,  while  she  endured  the  censure  of  friends 
who  believed  the  sickness  and  death  of  the  child 
was  God’s  punishment  because  the  mother  had 
placed  her  in  the  Evangelical  school. 

Some  of  our  pupils  are  now  teachers  in  our 
school.  Some  are  living  at  home  teaching  their 
younger  brothers  and  sisters,  Some  have  mar¬ 
ried.  Our  greatest  joy  is  to  see  the  happy  well- 
ordered  homes  of  these  forceful,  cultured  Christian 
women  who  accept  responsibility  bravely  and 
take  a  helpful  and  firm  stand  on  all  social  and 
religious  questions.  Others  of  our  old  pupils 
have  opened  small  schools  in  other  towns. 

In  Brazil  all  education  is  backward.  I  know 
of  no  school  or  College  for  women  in  Northern 
Brazil.  Out  of  every  thousand  inhabitants  only 
twenty-eight  can  read.  We  are  safe  in  calcu¬ 
lating  that  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  these 
twenty-eight  are  women. 

iltaprttnuiga  Station,  Irazil. 

In  the  two  years  we  have  been  here  we  have 
outgrown  our  quarters  twice,  and  now  we  have 
the  great  problem  of  building  a  church  capable 
of  holding  our  congregations.  Our  Sunday  school 
is  large  and  flourishing  and  quite  a  number  of 
children  have  recited  the  Shorter  Catechism  and 
received  diplomas  from  the  Christian  Observer. 

Faxina  is  eighty  miles  from  Itapetiriinga. 
There  this  August  we  dedicated  a  large  new 
church.  A  building  costing  a  little  under  four 
thousand  dollars  has  been  constructed  at  great 


21 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


labor  and  sacrifice,  as  the  members  there  are  not 
rich  in  this  world’s  goods. 

At  Sao  Tiago  we  have  a  church  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  members  on  the  roll  and  a  large  num¬ 
ber  whose  names  will  soon  be  on  the  roll,  we  hope. 
Last  year  this  church  built  two  buildings  costing 
about  seven  hundred  dollars  each,  and  besides 
these  there  were  two  chapels  in  townships  at  a 
distance  from  the  two  centers. 

Two  months  ago  I  met  a  man  who  had  been 
given  a  Bible  20  years  ago.  Later  a  priest  took 
it  away  from  him.  Then  he  managed  to  get 
another,  and  has  been  following  its  teachings  alone 
never  having  met  a  minister  and  never  having 
had  a  chance  to  do  so  before  we  happened  to  get 
to  a  place  near  where  he  lives.  Think  of  fol¬ 
lowing  Christ  20  years,  half  in  the  dark  and  half 
in  the  light  because  there  was  no  one  to  lead  him 
into  the  full  knowledge  of  the  Gospel! 

1  , 

Desraltmiio,  Brazil. 

The  people  here  are  living  in  perfect  ignorance 
of  the  Bible  and  the  Gospel  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  will  not 
let  them  read  the  word  of  God,  but  teaches  them 
to  bow  down  to  images  made  with  their  own 
hands. 

God  is  blessing  the  work  at  this  station.  For 
example,  at  Araras,  when  we  began  work  in  1909 
there  was  not  a  member  of  the  Church.  Now  we. 
have  a  congregation  there  of  over  sixty  persons 
in  regular  attendance.  In  Leme  we  have  twenty, 
and  when  we  commenced  there  five  years  ago, 
there  was  not  a  Protestant  in  the  town.  The 
same  blessings  have  come  to  us  in  Limeira  and 
Descalvado.  We  have  been  able  to  build  a  good 


22 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


church  building  here  to  the  honor  of  our  blessed 
Master  We  wish  you  could  see  the  bright,  happy 
faces  of  our  converts,  and  hear  them  sing  the  songs 
of  Zion,  and  see  them  working  for  Christ.  You 
would  surely  say  it  is  well  worth  while. 

Plardas  Station,  (Cuba. 

A  very  important  part  of  the  work  here  and 
one  that  has  done  much  in  preparing  the  way  for 
the  church  work  is  the  day  school.  A  majority 
of  the  best  homes  are  represented  in  the  school. 
The  enrollment  since  last  September  has  increased 
more  than  seventy  per  cent.  Lately  we  have 
secured  the  best  location  possible  and  expect  a 
large  increase  this  coming  September. 

It  is  impossible  to  overstate  the  neglected  and 
needy  condition  of  the  Catholics  here.  Not 
one  per  cent  of  the  people  attend  the  Catholic 
services  except  on  some  special  occasion.  Of  the 
one  per  cent  not  more  than  one-tenth  or  one- 
fifth  attend  regularly,  and  of  these,  perhaps,  one 
half  understand  a  small  part  of  the  services  and 
get  a  crumb  of  the  truth,  and  that  so  mixed  with 
error  that  salvation  is  impossible  to  them  unless 
they  get  the  light  and  the  truth  from  other  sources. 
Morality  is  neither  preached  nor  practiced  unto 
them,  but  the  opposite.  As  a  rule,  the  priests  are 
immoral  and  corrupters  of  society. 

(EatbartPtt  Station,  (Saba. 

Caibarien  is  the  center  of  a  wonderfully  fer¬ 
tile  and  thickly  populated  section.  Within  a 
radius  of  twenty  miles  we  have  seven  towns  vary¬ 
ing  in  population  from  1500  to  12,000 inhabitants, 
while  in  the  country  between  there  are  at  least 


23 


I 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OTJR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


25,000  additional  men,  women,  and  children.  All 
these  towns  and  all  this  country  section  is  pene¬ 
trated  by  railways  and  macadam  roads,  thus  in¬ 
suring  the  rapid  and  permanent  development  of 
the  section  and  making  all  points  easy  of  access. 

In  this  great  section  of  Cuba  ours  is  the  only 
Church  at  work.  The  other  Churches  have  left 
the  evangelization  of  this  part  of  the  island  to  us, 
so  that  if  these  people  are  ever  to  have  the  Gos¬ 
pel  it  must  be  given  by  our  Church.  We  are 
absolutely  responsible  for  their  souls. 

Our  school  at  Cardenas  enjoys  the  distinction 
of  being  the  largest  evangelical  school  in  Cuba. 
Without  reducing  in  any  way  the  efficiency  of 
the  Cardenas  school,  it  has  been  decided  to  make 
Caibarien  the  center  of  our  collegiate  and  theologi¬ 
cal  work. 

In  spite  of  the  entire  lack  of  equipment  of  any 
kind  the  school  at  Caibarien  has  matriculated  this 
year  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  and 
a  small  theological  class  is  preparing  to  begin 
work  next  year. 

The  aggressive  work  carried  on  for  many  years 
here  by  Miss  Edith  Houston  has  left  the  seed  in 
many  hearts  and  the  harvest  is  more  rapid  for 
that  reason.  Eight  months  ago  when  at  last  the 
number  of  our  workers  was  reinforced  to  the  point 
where  we  could  really  do  efficient  work,  this  was 
the  first  town  to  be  strongly  manned.  During 
these  eight  months  it  has  been  a  delight  to  see 
the  remarkable  way  in  which  the  town  has  re¬ 
sponded. 

The  school  enrollment  has  increased  two  hun¬ 
dred  per  cent;  the  Sunday  school  has  grown  until 
it  now  occupies  a  place  among  the  half  dozen 
largest  schools  of  the  island  of  Cuba;  and  the 


24 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


membership  of  the  church  has  been  very  consider¬ 
ably  increased. 

The  organized  class  work  among  the  young 
people  of  the  Sunday  school  has  enabled  us  to 
increase  the  attendance  in  that  department  four¬ 
fold,  and  these  young  people  upon  their  own  ini¬ 
tiative  have  opened  a  Sunday  school  in  one  of  the 
unoccupied  sections  of  the  town  and  manned  it 
with  teachers  from  the  class.  It  is  the  first  work 
of  the  kind  they  have  ever  done,  yet  the  school 
has  begun  auspiciously,  and  the  young  people  are 
getting  the  training  and  exercise  in  religious  work 
which  will  insure  their  growth  in  spirituality. 

Financially  the  church  is  doing  all  that  could  be 
expected  of  it.  A  good  building  lot  has  been 
purchased  at  a  cost  of  $3,000,  and  a  little  more 
than  half  of  the  price  has  been  paid  by  the  church. 
In  addition,  the  church  has  subscribed  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  twenty  dollars  per  year  to  the  support 
of  a  native  preacher  besides  paying  all  its  own 
incidental  expenses. 

Caibarien  offers  the  opportunity  of  establishing 
one  of  the  strongest  evangelical  centers  in  the 
whole  island.  Conditions  are  all  propitious.  The 
only  thing  needful  is  sufficient  financial  backing 
from  our  friends  at  home.  May  God  open  their 
hearts  to  make  this  a  center  from  which  shall 
flow  streams  of  blessing  into  all  this  section  of 
Cuba. 

ISj.  HHatanunroa  Station,  fHpxirn. 

The  purpose  of  the  Presbyterian  Industrial 
College  of  H.  Matamoros  is  just  this:  To  train 
these  girls  in  all  the  branches  of  instruction  which 
are  useful  to  a  womanly  woman.  Many  of  the 


25 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


girls  sew  beautifully-  They  are  all  good  laun¬ 
dresses.  They  are  learning  to  cook.  We  have 
several  organists  and  two  pianists.  All  of  the 
dormitory  girls  learn  to  play  hymns.  They 
sing  by  note.  Many  have  a  good  working  knowl¬ 
edge  of  English.  They  are  taught  to  keep  ac¬ 
counts  of  their  personal  expenditures.  Each  girl 
cares  for  a  diminutive  garden.  When  we  separ¬ 
ated  for  the  summer  vacation,  each  girl  went  home 
with  the  purpose  of  making  herself  useful  to  her 
mother  and  already  the  missionary  has  noticed 
the  service  rendered  by  some. 

The  spiritual  atmosphere  of  the  school  is  very 
pronounced.  Nearly  every  girl  in  the  dormitory 
is  a  member  of  the  church.  The  few  who  are  not 
have  expressed  their  desire  to  join  but  are  held 
back  until  they  are  better  instructed. 

The  great  need  of  Mexico  is  intelligent  Christian 
women  to  make  Christian  homes  to  be  the  fount¬ 
ains  of  purity  and  intelligence  in  the  Mexico  that 
is  to  be. 

(Jtula  Station,  iUwarn. 

This  station  is  striving  to  reach  and  supply  the 
spiritual  needs  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  Mexicans, 
distributed  in  five  towns  and  surrounding  plan¬ 
tations  and  ranches. 

The  house  to  house  canvass  in  Tula  by  the  mis¬ 
sionary  and  his  helper  revealed  the  fact  that  only 
two  Bibles  were  found  in  the  first  hundred  homes 
that  were  visited.  But  suppose  they  had  the 
Bibles,  what  good  would  they  do,  if  not  more  than 
a  possible  five  per  cent  could  read  them.  All 
through  this  territory  the  illiteracy  is  appalling. 

Our  one  little  Mission  school  has  proven  to  be 
the  most  powerful  means  of  breaking  down  preju- 

26 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


dice.  It  is  opening  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  the 
fact  that  the  Protestants  are  not,  as  the  priests 
teach,  the  most  ignorant  and  despised  of  earth. 
Last  year  this  little  Mission  school  had  as  many 
pupils  as  the  public  school  and  the  teacher  was 
offered  the  public  school  for  the  following  year. 
Last  year  two  towns  asked  us  to  send  them  Protes¬ 
tant  graduates  for  the  public  schools,  but  the  need 
•could  not  be  supplied.  Even  now  a  rumor  has 
been  going  about  that  in  Tula  there  are  to  be 
Protestant  teachers  in  the  public  schools. 

The  door  of  opportunity  is  opening  wide.  Will 
the  Church  of  Christ  be  ready?  More  than  thirty 
Testaments  and  Bibles  have  been  awarded  pupils 
of  our  Mission  School  for  reciting  the  Catechism 
and  some  have  been  received  in  the  church.  We 
have  more  than  one  hundred  members  in  this 
field,  the  most  of  them  having  been  received  in 
the  last  two  years.  They  have  been  won  largely 
through  the  personal  work  of  native  helpers  and 
teachers.  Some  of  these  have  been  led  to  Christ 
in  truly  Apostolic  fashion  and  have  shown  a 
genuine  Apostolic  zeal.  The  field  is  ripe  for  the 
harvest  and  our  church  is  the  only  Protestant 
Church  that  is  at  work  here.  Unless  this  genera¬ 
tion  of  people  hear  the  Gospel  through  us,  they 
will  never  hear  it. 

(E.  Uirtnrta  Station,  Jflextro. 

A  visitor  to  C.  Victoria,  capital  of  the  state  of 
Tamaulipas,  would  find  a  new  church.  He  would 
see  the  young  Mexican  pastor  busy  with  the  serv¬ 
ices,  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  Christian  Endeavor 
Societies.  He  would  remark  the  intelligent  con¬ 
gregation  and  the  bright  faces  of  the  girls.  From 
many  homes  in  which  not  one  was  a  Christian, 


27 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS 


we  have  seen  one  and  another  brought  into  the 
light  and  we  have  seen  the  changes  in  those  homes. 

There  are  always  new  places  asking  for  a  visit 
from  the  workers.  It  is  not  possible  to  go  to  all 
and  our  hearts  ache  when  we  cannot.  They  are 
in  darkness,  pleading  for  the  light,  and  we  are  so 
few  that  we  cannot  send  workers  to  all. 

We  are  endeavoring  to  plant  Evangelical  schools 
in  our  out-stations  around  Victoria.  In  one  of 
these  schools,  for  example,  the  faithful  work  of 
the  teacher  became  known  and  she  was  asked  to 
take  a  larger  school.  She  took  it  because  she 
was  permitted  to  teach  the  Bible  in  the  school. 
She  superintended  a  Sunday  school  and  her  peti¬ 
tion  that  the  Evangelist  should  hold  services 
there  was  granted.  That  has  now  become  one  of 
our  most  promising  stations.  The  interest  and 
attendance  have  grown  and  more  than  forty  have 
been  received  into  the  membership  of  the  church. 

Without  the  light  of  God’s  word  there  is  no 
knowledge  of  Christ.  In  these  homes  in  Victoria 
and  the  surrounding  country  you  will  find  the 
images  of  the  Saints  and  the  Virgin,  you  will 
hear  them  appealed  to  in  time  of  sorrow  and  need, 
but  they  know  nothing  of  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, 
or  the  refuge  that  He  is  to  His  people.  When 
I  think  of  the  many  around  Victoria  who  are 
living  with  absolutely  no  knowledge  of  Christ, 
and  when  I  think  how  few  are  the  workers  in 
proportion  to  the  needs,  my  heart  aches  with  the 
longing  to  send  more  workers. 

(£bunju  Station,  IKnmt. 

In  this  city  of  thirty  thousand  people  we  have 
two  churches  with  a  total  membership  of  between 
four  and  five  hundred.  The  city  is  divided  into 

28 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


districts  and  a  particular  section  assigned  to  each 
man  and  each  woman,  a  section  in  which  he  or 
she  is  definitely  responsible  for  evangelistic  work. 
Already  we  have  seen  very  encouraging  results 
from  this  plan  of  city  work. 

In  round  numbers  there  are  seven  hundred 
thousand  souls  to  whom  the  members  of  our 
Station  are  to  break  the  Bread  of  Life.  The 
territory  occupied  by  this  population  is  divided 
into  five  fields  with  an  ordained  foreign  mission¬ 
ary  in  charge  of  each.  This,  you  see,  will  give 
an  average  of  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
people  to  each  man. 

Kunsati  Station,  KComt. 

Two  large  training  classes  one  for  men  and  one 
for  women  are  held  in  the  middle  of  the  winter 
each  year.  They  are  attended  by  men  and  wo¬ 
men  from  all  the  churches  throughout  our  entire 
field,  generally  from  two  to  three  hundred  stu¬ 
dents  being  in  attendance  upon  each.  The 
classes  run  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks  and  the 
men  and  women  always  go  back  home  with  fresh 
information  and  inspiration  to  impart  to  the  local 
congregations.  These  clasess  are  a  most  effective 
means  of  building  up  the  churches  in  faith  and 
doctrine. 

Besides  the  large  classes  held  at  the  Station, 
smaller  classes  are  held  in  every  church  through¬ 
out  our  entire  field  of  360,000.  The  general 
program  for  these  classes  is:  Daybreak  prayer 
meeting,  Bible  Study  from  breakfast  to  dinner, 
afternoons  devoted  to  preaching  in  neighboring 
villages  and  personal  work,  the  evenings  devoted 
to  services  of  an  evangelistic  and  revival  nature. 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


These  meetings  have  been  held  for  a  week  in 
every  church  in  our  field. 

At  our  Mid-winter  Leaders’  Conference  it  was 
suggested  that,  since  the  churches  were  having 
such  a  hard  time  raising  the  money  for  the  salary 
of  the  four  evangelists  they  were  supporting,  the 
number  be  reduced  from  four  to  two.  The  meet¬ 
ing  went  into  a  consideration  of  this  subject  and 
then  decided  that  instead  of  reducing  from  four 
to  two  they  wTould  increase  from  four  to  seven. 
So  we  have  had  during  the  past  year  seven  native 
evangelists  supported  by  the  native  church. 

Some  of  the  churches  are  making  rapid  strides 
forward.  For  example,  when  I  first  visited  the 
church  at  Yorai,in  Mankyeng  County,  I  was  dis¬ 
couraged  on  account  of  its  pitifully  weak  condi¬ 
tion.  The  last  time  I  visited  that  church  the 
building  was  packed  to  overflowing,  a  large  num¬ 
ber  having  to  sit  on  mats  spread  on  the  ground  in 
the  yard.  Since  then  a  good-sized  congregation 
has  separated  from  this  one  and  built  a  nice  new 
church  of  their  own  at  quite  a  considerable  cost. 
This  new  church  is  now  one  of  the  most  promising 
that  we  have,  being  in  a  large  town  and  composed 
of  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  place. 

Our  present  school  dormitory  was  comfortably 
filled  the  first  year  it  was  built,  three  years  ago, 
and  has  been  most  uncomfortably  filled  ever  since. 
Every  year  we  have  been  more  and  more  pushed  to 
provide  for  the  overflow,  and  this  new  term,  wTe 
were  at  our  wits’  end  what  to  do  with  some  twenty 
new  boarders. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  organization  in  our  School  of 

6.’,  boys  is  very  active.  Practically  all  of  the 
%  _ 

boys  are  members.  Through  this  organization 
the  boys  have  conducted  three  Sunday  schools 

3° 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


for  heathen  children,  entirely  on  their  own  ini¬ 
tiative  and  with  their  own  money,  with  a  total 
attendance  of  over  one  hundred  per  Sunday. 
They  have  also  supplied  the  bulk  of  the  teaching 
force  for  several  other  similar  Sunday  schools. 
They  have  also  paid  one  of  their  number  to  teach 
a  day  school  two  afternoons  after  school  hours, 
the  boy  selected  adding  a  third  afternoon  as  his 
own  contribution,  this  being  done  to  gain  en¬ 
trance  to  a  heathen  village  for  a  Sunday  school. 
During  the  winter  vacation  they  raised  a  liberal 
collection  among  themselves,  and  sent  one  of  the 
graduates  of  the  year  before,  now  a  teacher  in 
our  schools,  for  a  month’s  preaching  trip  to  the 
island  of  Quelpart,  a  piece  of  genuine  Foreign 
Mission  work. 

Our  Mary  Baldwin  School  for  Girls  has  regis¬ 
tered  eighty  three,  and  we  have  eleven  country 
schools  distributed  throughout  the  field. 

IPurtlm'  KCurpatt  jflarta. 

The  following  facts  are  contributed  by  Mr. 
Charles  A.  Rowland,  who  has  just  returned  from 
the  Orient. 

The  village  of  Nong  Hung  is  only  fifteen  miles 
away.  For  many  years  it  was  looked  down  upon 
as  Nazareth  of  old.  Now  since  Christianity  has 
come  every  man  is  proud  to  say  he  is  from  there. 
Fifty-five  houses  in  that  village  and  not  one  that 
has  not  a  Christian  in  it. 

In  Syen  Chun  fully  one  half  of  the  population 
are  Christians.  “  Chang”  or  market  day  comes 
every  fifth  day.  When  it  happens  to  fall  on  Sun¬ 
day,  by  official  act  of  the  city,  market  day  goes 
over  to  Monday.  Where  in  America  do  Chris¬ 
tians  wield  such  municipal  influence?  These  are 


3i 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


exceptions,  it  is  true,  but  they  show  that  God  is 
at  work. 

In  talking  with  one  of  the  missionaries  in  Pyeng 
Yang  I  was  delighted  to  learn  that  the  office  of 
elder  is  magnified  in  Korea.  All  elders  preach. 
All  have  to  pass  an  examination  on  the  shorter 
catechism  and  church  government  before  the 
Presbytery, 

The  elders  actually  take  the  oversight  of  the 
flock.  To  assist  the  elders  leaders  of  ten  are 
appointed  who  look  after  such  groups  and  report 
to  the  elders  when  any  are  weak  or  falling  away. 
This  is  not  resented. 

All  differences  between  believers  are  settled  by 
the  elders.  “Dare  any  of  you  having  a  matter 
against  another  go  to  law  before  the  unjust  and 
not  before  the  saints?”  i  Cor.  6-1  is  literally  car¬ 
ried  out.  A  Christian  can  sue  an  unbeliever  in 
court.  Why  they  actually  take  God’s  word  to 
mean  what  it  says  and  live  accordingly.  “Be 
not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers.’’ 
2  Cor.  6-14  is  a  cause  for  discipline.  No  Chris¬ 
tian  is  allowed  to  marry  his  children  to  an  un¬ 
believer. 

After  learning  all  this,  I  was  prepared  for  the 
following  remark,  from  my  missionary  friend  one 
Sunday  afternoon,  when  a  distinguished  Korean 
gentleman  passed  us  in  his  spotless  white  gown 
and  shoes: 

“That  man  has  just  been  made  an  elder  al¬ 
though  one  of  the  very  earliest  believers.  He  is 
quite  a  prominent  man.  He  was  first  made  a 
deacon,  then  a  leader,  and  only  recently  an  elder. 
His  trouble  was  stinginess.  He  did  not  give 
according  to  his  means.  In  fact,  we  had  him  up 
before  the  session  for  his  lack  of  liberality  and  it 


32 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


was  not  until  he  had  overcome  at  this  point  that 
he  was  elected  an  elder.” 

The  Korean  type  of  Christianity  has  many  ob¬ 
ject  lessons  for  us.  The  missionaries  tell  us  it 
has  been  a  hard  pull  to  develop  men  of  strong 
spiritual  qualifications  against  human  nature — 
the  same  there  as  here. 

God  has  likewise  been  at  work  and  perhaps  no 
church  has  been  sifted  as  the  Korean.  First  in 
silent  and  persistent  persecutions  by  friends  and 
relatives;  then  by  Korean  officials;  then  by  Cath¬ 
olics;  and  last  and  most  terrible  of  all  by  the 
Japanese  officials  in  outright  imprisonment,  trial, 
and  torture. 

I  saw  members  who  were  imprisoned  during 
1911  and  1912.  One  elder  described  to  me  the 
excruciating  torture  he  was  subjected  to  by  the 
Japanese  in  order  to  force  him  to  testify  falsely 
in  their  endeavor  to  convict  innocent  Christian 
men  during  the  conspiracy  trial.  They  told  him 
they  had  73  different  kinds  of  torture  and  would 
put  him  through  all  of  them  if  he  did  not  say  yes. 
How  would  you  like  to  have  your  thumbs  tied 
behind  your  back  and  be  strung  up  by  them  from 
9  A.M.  until  after  dark?  This  is  only  a  sample  of 
the  73,  but  enough  to  give  you  some  idea  of  what 
the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  land  have  been 
called  upon  to  suffer  for  His  sake. 

And  how  has  the  Korean  church  grown  so 
rapidly?  “One  by  one,”  is  the  method.  The 
Sunday  services  are  not  aimed  to  reach  the  heathen 
but  the  Christians,  and  these  are  to  go  out  and 
train  others  one  by  one. 

And  the  Korean  Christian  is  able  to  do  this 
because  he  has  studied  his  Bible.  The  Bible 
Study  Class  is  a  regular  institution  in  every  local 


33 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS- 


church..  Then  the  best  men  are  selected  and  sent 
up  to  the  Annual  Bible  classes  held  at  every  sta¬ 
tion  for  ten  days  each  year.  Thus  individual 
work  for  individuals  is  the  accepted  thing  and  the 
exception  is  when  one  does  not  work  for  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  others. 

ICufbn  Station,  Afrtra. 

The  following  is  part  of  a  letter  written  from  the 
Congo  by  Bishop  Lambuth,  Missionary  Secretary 
of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church.  It  pictures 
some  of  the  methods  used  in  our  Foreign  Parish. 

It  shows  how  our  missionaries  train  the  native 

% 

Christians  to  teach  and  evangelize  their  own 
people,  which  is  the  only  way  in  which  any  land 
can  be  thoroughly  and  permanently  Christian¬ 
ized: 

“  My  soul  rejoiced  within  me  at  this  great  piece  of  evangelism 
wrought  out  by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  missionaries  in 
twenty-one  years. 

“ A  mere  handful  of  white  and  colored  missionaries  have 
gathered  about  them  8,000  earnest  Christians,  and  out  of  this 
number  300  teachers  and  evangelists,  who,  while  they  them¬ 
selves  are  under  training,  have  daily  under  instruction  thous¬ 
ands  of  children  and  grown  people.  What  is  more,  this  is 
capable  of  indefinite  extension.  The  only  limitation  is  the 
number  and  strength  of  the  working  force.  Do  you  wonder 
that  my  soul  is  stirred  when  I  think  of  this  being  carried  on 
for  a  nine  days’  journey  on  foot  in  almost  every  direction  from 
Luebo  as  the  base  or  center,  and  by  LAYMEN?  Not  one 
ordained  preacher  as  yet,  and  200  of  the  force  of  300  self-sup¬ 
porting.  In  other  words,  the  villagers,  in  addition  to  building 
the  sheds  or  school  houses  and  churches,  support  these  men  by 
building  them  houses  and  supplying  cassava  for  bread,  palm 
oil,  yams,  chickens,  eggs,  ants,  grasshoppers,  and  caterpillars. 

“What  a  challenge  to  the  Laymen  of  our  Church?  We 
have  never  fully  utilized  this  great  contingent  at  home.  Here 
is  an  illustration  of  what  can  be  done  from  the  Foreign  field. 
These  men  are  not  preachers.  They  do  not  pretend  to  be. 
They  are  Christian  school  teachers;  they  are  expounders  of 
the  Word  of  God  as  they  themselvse  have  been  taught;  they 
organize  cottage  prayer  meetings,  and  establish  and  super¬ 
intend  Sunday  School.  They  know  God.  I  rarely  have 
heard  such  prayers.  They  have  learned  how  to  talk  with 
God;  and  with  a  devoutness  of  spirit  which  is  marvelous  they 
are  leading  the  people  in  the  way  of  truth  and  right  living. 


34 


FRESH  FACTS  FROM  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS. 


“  The  work  of  these  men  and  that  of  their  missionary  lead¬ 
ers  is  rooted  and  grounded  in  faith  and  in  prayer.  Think  of 
300  turning  out  every  morning  in  the  year  to  6  o’clock  prayer 
meeting.  Think  of  a  semicircle  of  cottage  prayer  meetings 
at  Luebo  every  Wednesday  night  extending  for  two  miles. 

.  I  heard  the  singing  from  half  a  hundred  different  points  while 
I  was  walking  through  the  mission  compound  or  campus, 
on  my  way  to  conduct  the  missionary  prayer  service  in  Eng¬ 
lish.  Is  there  any  wonder  that  we  felt  that  night  the  presence 
of  our  Lord?  I  thank  God  for  what  I  have  seen  and  heard. 
The  half  had  not  been  told  me.” 

Since  this  first  visit  of  Bishop  Lambuth,  two 
years  ago,  the  work  has  grown  rapidly.  Said  Dr. 
W.  M.  Morrison  when  in  this  country  last  year; 

“Twenty-two  years  ago,  there  was  not  a  man  in  all  the 
region  of  Luebo  that  had  heard  the  name  of  Jesus.  Now 
there  are  nearly  ten  thousand  believers.  Twenty-two  years 
ago  there  was  not  a  man  that  knew  a  letter  in  any  alphabet. 
Today  there  are  nearly  seven  thousand  pupils  in  the  different 
schools.  Twenty-two  years  ago  there  was  not  a  man,  woman 
or  child  in  all  that  great  region  that  could  utter  a  syllable  of 
intelligent  prayer.  When  Bishop  Lambuth  was  there  he 
estimated  that  at  6  o’clock  every  morning  20,000  people  gather 
in  the  various  villages  for  morning  prayer.  Does  it  pay?” 


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